Failed Amendment barring US assistance to Ukrainian neo-Nazis

An amendment to the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have forbidden US assistance, training and weapons to neo-Nazis and other extremists in Ukraine was kept out of the final bill by the Republican-led House Rules Committee. Introduced by Democratic Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and John Conyers, the amendment was intended to help tamp down on violent confrontations between Ukrainian forces and Russian separatists.

AMENDMENT TO THE RULES COMMITTEE PRINT

FOR H.R. 4435
OFFERED BY MR. CONYERS OF MICHIGAN
At the end of subtitle A of title XII of division A,
add the following:
SEC. l. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR TRAINING, 1
EQUIPMENT, OR OTHER ASSISTANCE FOR 2
MEMBERS OF CERTAIN UNITS OF ORGANIZA- 3
TIONS OR GROUPS IN UKRAINE. 4
(a) LIMITATION.— 5
(1) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds author- 6
ized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise 7
made available for fiscal year 2015 for the Depart- 8
ment of Defense may be obligated or expended for 9
any training, equipment, or other assistance for the 10
members of a unit of a security force, civilian mili- 11
tia, or other armed group in Ukraine, if— 12
(A) the Secretary of Defense has credible 13
information that the unit or its members have 14
taken public stances or taken actions that are 15
indicative of extremism, including— 16
(i) opposition or hostility to the con- 17
cept of liberal democracy; 18
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(ii) opposition or hostility to the val- 1
ues of diversity and pluralism; and 2
(iii) praise or glorification of Nazism 3
or its collaborators, including through the 4
use of white supremacist, neo-Nazi, or 5
other similar symbols; and 6
(B) the Secretary of Defense determines 7
the unit has not taken necessary corrective 8
steps to repudiate or rectify such stances or ac- 9
tions by the unit or its members, including ini- 10
tiating internal processes, legal processes, or 11
disciplinary processes, as appropriate, not later 12
than 7 days after the date on which the unit re- 13
ceives notice of such stances or actions. 14
(2) CREDIBLE INFORMATION.—The Secretary 15
of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of 16
State, shall ensure that prior to making a deter- 17
mination to provide any training, equipment, or 18
other assistance for the members of a unit of a secu- 19
rity force, civilian militia, or other armed group in 20
Ukraine full consideration is given to any credible 21
information available to the Department of State re- 22
lating to any evidence of such extremist stances or 23
actions by a unit of such organization or group or 24
its members. 25
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(b) EXCEPTION.—The limitation in subsection (a)(1) 1
shall not apply with respect to a unit of an organization 2
of group if the Secretary of Defense, after consultation 3
with the Secretary of State, determines that the equip- 4
ment or other assistance is necessary to assist in disaster 5
relief operations or other humanitarian or national secu- 6
rity emergencies. 7
(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary of Defense, after con- 8
sultation with the Secretary of State, may waive the limi- 9
tation in subsection (a)(1) if the Secretary of Defense de- 10
termines that such waiver is required by extraordinary cir- 11
cumstances. 12
(d) REPORT.—Not more than 15 days after the appli- 13
cation of any exception under subsection (b) or the exer- 14
cise of any waiver under subsection (c), the Secretary of 15
Defense shall submit to the congressional defense commit- 16
tees a report— 17
(1) in the case of an exception under subsection 18
(b), providing— 19
(A) notice of the use of the exception; and 20
(B) the grounds for the exception; and 21
(2) in the case of a waiver under subsection (c), 22
describing— 23
(A) the information relating to such ex- 24
tremist stances or actions; 25
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(B) the extraordinary or other cir- 1
cumstances that necessitate the waiver; 2
(C) the purpose and duration of the train- 3
ing, equipment, or other assistance; and 4
(D) the United States forces and the 5
Ukrainian security force unit involved. 6
◊
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